Chapter 7 - THE CHILDREN’S SONG
Lily remembered one thing her mother repeated whenever she was frightened.
A short song about a black bird, a silver key, and a church bell.
As a child, Lily thought it was a lullaby.
Victor recognized the church in the lyrics.
Saint Agnes stood near the old Blackwood neighborhood.
His father had used its basement for private meetings decades earlier.
Victor, Lily, Cole, and Detective Ruiz entered the church before sunrise.
Father Daniel Moretti waited beside the altar.
He had known Rosa Hayes.
“She told me someone would come when the Blackwood child was threatened,” he said.
Victor looked toward Lily.
“Why did she involve her daughter?”
“She believed Lily would choose the child over the family name.”
Lily did not understand.
Father Daniel led them into the bell tower.
Behind a loose stone was a silver key.
It opened an old cabinet beneath the choir loft.
Inside were notebooks, photographs, recordings, and lists of names.
The witness ledger was not one book.
It was an archive.
Rosa had documented crimes committed by Dominic Crane, Malcolm Price, and several officials.
She had also documented crimes connected to Victor’s father.
Victor looked at the pages.
“My father knew about this.”
“He ordered some of it,” Father Daniel said.
The truth was not designed to protect the Blackwoods.
It was designed to destroy every criminal network involved.
Isabella discovered the archive through Rosa.
She planned to give it to federal authorities.
Before she could act, she became ill.
Price controlled her medication.
Serena entered as his assistant.
Victor found a medical log.
Price had replaced Isabella’s heart medication with a drug that caused dangerous rhythm changes.
Serena delivered the bottle.
Dominic Crane paid them.
Victor closed the ledger.
His wife had been murdered.
Serena had helped kill her.
Then she entered his life, became his fiancée, and tried to remove their child.
Lily stood beside him.
“My mother knew.”
“She spent years hiding this.”
Victor looked toward the boxes.
“She also documented my family’s crimes.”
Lily met his eyes.
“Yes.”
Victor could destroy the archive.
No one in the room would be able to stop him easily.
He could use Serena’s portion and bury the rest.
He could protect the Blackwood empire while avenging Isabella.
That was what his father would have done.
Ruiz watched him carefully.
“What happens now?”
Victor held the ledger.
“We make copies.”
Cole looked at him.
“Boss.”
“Everything goes to Ruiz.”
“Even the Blackwood files?”
Victor looked toward the sleeping city through the church window.
“Yes.”
Cole stared at him.
“That could destroy us.”
Victor’s voice remained steady.
“It should destroy whatever deserves to fall.”
Before Ruiz could take the first box, the church lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot struck the ceiling.
Dominic Crane’s men entered through the rear doors.
